It is with our deepest sadness, yet celebration and hope in knowing he is home rejoicing with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Joseph M. Alves, Jr. on March 7, 2026 at the age of 90 years old. Our dad was a humble and devout Believer who led our family to love the Lord just as he did. Our memories of watching him lead the praise and worship service in church each Sunday with his guitar, his favorite contemporary and country gospel songs with his best friend, Frank who preceded him in death, will be cherished and remembered throughout our lifetimes. He was known as “Coach Joe” to many boys and girls in our hometown of Artesia, California in the 1970’s, including his own two daughters and two sons. As a family, Artesia Park was a “second home” and he was a fixture there, well-loved and respected by all. He spent all of his free time in this endeavor and took much pride instilling in us our love of baseball and softball and as we grew older, he was always there to watch our games in high school, coaching us from the stands. Dad was also as proud of his family as a man can be, and spent many of his days after retirement age talking about his children and grandchildren, religion, sports and politics with friends at the local donut shops in Hemet and San Jacinto, California where he lived with his long-time loving companion Janice Sirback until his passing. As a youngster, he was very athletic and strong, helping his grandfather on the family dairy. As a young adult, he went on to pursue boxing as a welterweight fighter, having won many matches, but aside from that and his family, his first and foremost passion was for music. He was a talented singer/songwriter in the rockabilly and country genres. We credit him for our love of and a vast and diverse catalog of music, as we remember watching him play guitar for us, often changing up the lyrics to songs that were known to us as he went along to make us giggle, with funny words in place of the original lyrics, as well as singing songs he wrote to get our opinions. He was very proud of his ability to write lyrics and play guitar and he left us with many we will be able to listen to for many years to come and play for his beloved grandchildren. He passed his talent down to his son and grandson who both joined bands, played guitar, and sang. We will cherish the stories and photos of his boxing career, going through his catalog of songs, some we had never before heard as well as his vast collection of vinyl records and cassettes just as we did as children. It was all part of the many lives he lived, all in one. Now that he has been called home, we know he is reunited with his beloved family members and friends in Heaven, including his recently deceased son, Sean Alves of San Bernardino California, whose passing last year broke our father’s heart. As a family, this brings us the comfort and peace we need as we mourn. Joseph is survived by his children, Joleen (Todd) Johnson of Goodyear Arizona, Christina Alves of Laughlin Nevada and Steve (Amanda) Alves of Artesia, California and grandchildren Tiffani, Ryan, Shane, Kristen, Jeremy, Jeffrey, Adam and Ian along with great grandchildren Logan, Shelby, Mowgli, Sierra, Zoe and Finnley. He also leaves behind his two sisters, Doris Nunes Atkins, Irene Nunes Cordova and a brother, Jerry Nunes. Joseph was preceded in death by his son Sean David Alves, father Joseph Alves, Sr. mother Elvira Nunes, grandparents Manuel and Maria Alves and sister, Elizabeth Nunes. Memorial services were held privately for our father among his surviving immediate family members. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”—Revelations 21:4